Bangkok police arrest 6 Taiwanese nationals for crypto fraud

Police in Bangkok have arrested 6 Taiwanese men following a raid on a house in the Prawet district of the capital. The men are accused of conning over 500 people, mostly fellow Taiwanese or Chinese nationals, through fraudulent online cryptocurrency investment schemes. According to a Bangkok Post report, the arrests happened when officers from the Police Cyber Taskforce, accompanied by officials from the Immigration Bureau, raided the property on May 27.

Deputy national police chief, Damrongsak Kittiprapas, who also serves as Director of the Police Cyber Taskforce, says the men had used Thailand as a base for their operations. It’s understood they had been under police surveillance prior to the raid, with reports they rarely left the property.

2 of the suspects were arrested on warrants issued by the authorities in Taiwan, where the men are also wanted for fraud offences. The officers seized 6 notebook computers and 47 mobile phones during the raid. A subsequent examination of the computers offered evidence that the 6 suspects had conned people into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, with the men using Chinese bank accounts for the transactions.

Damrongsak says the men also face various other charges, with 4 of them charged with working without permission, 1 charged with drug offences, and the other charged with overstaying his visa. All 6 are now in police custody pending legal action. Archayon Kraithong from the Immigration Bureau says their permission to remain in Thailand will be revoked and they will be deported once legal proceedings against them have concluded.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post